The Red Rose Affirmation
by Loonylove529
Summary: Sheldon asks for Penny's advice. T to be safe.


AN: Okay, this is my first TBBT fanfic, and I'm all nervous about it. It was supposed to be a little oneshot, but it got out of control and I now have no idea how long it will be. So basically this is how it's going to work. If I get some good/encouraging reviews I will continue. I will take constructive criticism because I do want to know how I can make it better. I don't usually beg for reveiws, but I don't want to continue this if it is horrible. The story should pick up in chapter 2, which I am working on.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Big Bang Theory or its characters, settings, etc.

The Red Rose Affirmation

Penny was staring into her milk free coffee. It was her day off and she had been fully enjoying it, which pretty much consisted of sleeping in to about 10:40 am, until she realized she was out of milk for her coffee. Once upon a time, this would have had an easy fix: simply walk across the hall, use the spare key, and steal some from the guys. If only it were that simple now. Now if she wanted milk she either had to get dressed and go to the store and buy some, or risk enduring the awkwardness that still came up whenever she and Leonard were in a room alone together. She'd rather drink it black. Then the knocking started.

_Knock, knock, knock. "_Penny?"

_Knock, knock, knock. "_Penny?"

_Knock, knock, knock. "_Penny?"

She glanced at the clock hopefully before letting out a small sigh of disappointment. 11 o'clock on the dot. How the hell does he always time it so perfectly? She walked over to the door just as Sheldon finished his last round of OCD knocks.

"Who is it?" she asked, not bothering to refrain from rolling her eyes as she did so. He had required this ever since his apartment had been broken into, about a year ago now, and she indulged him, knowing it was his way of showing concern, even if it was annoying. Like his pattern and voice didn't give it away.

"Sheldon Cooper, PhD." Sounded from the other side of the door, and she opened it to reveal the tall lanky scientist, complete with green lantern t-shirt over that purple thermal that so did not match.

He quickly held out his wrist, showing her his watch, before stating, "It is 11 o'clock."

"Yeah, I see that," she deadpanned, before asking, "Did you want something?"

He seemed to relax a little now that he was certain he wasn't going to be punched in the throat. She congratulated herself once again for making that rule; otherwise she'd never get to sleep in.

"I noticed you did not resort to you usual thievery of our milk this morning," he replied. She was not sure how to take this, especially since it appeared he would not be providing any further information. She decided to help him along.

"And…" she prompted, and seeing he was not getting the hint, but was instead waiting for her to finish her sentence, she continued, "what about it?"

"I assume this was a yet another misguided attempt to avoid any undesirable post relationship encounters with Leonard?"

Okay, now she's getting annoyed. Couldn't he just get to the point?

"Yes, Sheldon, I'm avoiding Leonard. Anything else you wanna know about?" she said, a bit sarcastically, hoping he would leave now that he had his information.

"No, but I might add that avoiding him will not make the tension subside," he pointed out, rather bluntly. Her annoyance took a sharp turn, straight into angry.

"You know what Sheldon? If all you wanted was to come over and gloat over how you told us it would never work out, don't bother!" she was close to tears now. She had noticed that Sheldon hadn't been smug about the break up ever since it happened a few months ago, she would even go as far as to say he had helped her through the worst of it, so it was shocking to hear "I told you so" from him now. He looked confused, before a look of realization came over his face right before he grabbed the door, stopping her from slamming it.

"Wait. If you would allow me a chance to explain, I was merely offering advice, as is my duty under the title of friend, not 'gloating' as you put it," he rushed to say.

"Then why the hell are you knocking on my door at 11 o'clock in the morning?" she asked through clenched teeth, sending him a glare for good measure. He held up a carton of milk she had not noticed he was carrying.

"I thought you would prefer I bring this to you," he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Penny's anger immediately drained out of her, and she sagged against the door frame. Of course he didn't mean anything by it; he was just being Sheldon. She remembered a time when he would not have even picked up on the fact that she was upset, much less realized the cause of it. She suddenly realized that maybe he was right; avoiding Leonard was not helping matters, especially if it was making her this sensitive.

"Oh, thanks Sheldon, that's actually really thoughtful," she said, taking the milk and walking over to set it on the bar, next to her coffee. She secretly filed this away with a number of other similar occurrences that had been happening recently, or was it that she was only just now noticing them, between herself and Sheldon. She kept these in a little corner in the back of her mind, just out of sight, but always there, waiting to be looked at later, at a time when she could no longer ignore them. When that would be not even she knew. She turned and saw that Sheldon was still awkwardly standing in her doorway.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked, not unkindly, as she poured the milk into her cup, and started to hand the carton back to him.

"Keep it," he said as he stepped into her apartment, closing the door behind him, "I have actually been keeping a secondary supply for the purpose of your early morning raids on our refrigerator for some time now."

"Oh, well, thank you for that," she said, suddenly feeling ashamed of how she had acted earlier, "Listen, sorry about…" She didn't really know how to say "thinking you were being an arrogant know it all jerk again" in a nice apologetic way.

"It is understandable, I should not have meddled. And do not worry about the milk, it is little trouble," he assured her. Sheldon Cooper was making her feel better about snapping at him. She suddenly realized how much he had grown since the first time she met him.

"Besides," he continued, "it is preferable to your frequent depleting my personal supply every week." There was the whack-a-doodle she knew and tolerated.

"Thanks," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You're welcome?" he of course did not pick up on it, and was looking at her with confusion clear in his features.

"Never mind; did you need anything else?" she asked, thinking to deflect from an explanation that was sure to give her a headache.

"Yes, actually I came with the intention of asking what is termed a 'favor', that is an acceptable social convention among friends, requiring that one friend, that would be you, to be advantageous to the other, i.e. me," he replied, rapid fire.

Once she had caught up, she replied, "I know what a favor is, Sheldon. You need my help with something?"

Sheldon gave her a patronizing look before replying, "Affirmative….that means yes."

She glared at him, "I know what aff—nevermind. What can I help you with?"


End file.
